Horror, samurai, and gangster movies travel more easily between cultures than comedies - humor is very culturally specific. Here are 13 Japanese comedies that should transcend cultural boundaries. The comedies set in the business world of the 1960s and the economic miracle are particularly interesting, also from a social point of view, and Tora-san is the eternal outsider, whose tragic fate confirms how lucky the other Japanese are to lead such respectable lives as families together.
1. Umarete wa mita kedo, "I was born, but..." (Ozu Yasujiro, 1932)
A family consisting of a father, a mother, and two young boys has moved to the outskirts of Tokyo and is now living near the company president's residence. The father has always been the boys' hero, but now they see him humbly greeting the big boss every day, so they are very disappointed. This leads to disobedient behavior and even a tantrum from the children, until the boys learn that society has its ranks and that their father can't do anything about it. The only antidote is to attain high positions themselves. (Also see my blog article about Ozu Yasujiro)
2. Hyakuman Ryo no Tsubo, "The Million Ryo Pot", (Yamanaka Sadao & Okochi Denjiro, 1935)
A breezy farce about the fruitless search for a lost pot that is believed to contain a treasure map. The film features the famous one-eyed and one-armed swordsman Tange Zazen, played by Okochi Denjiro - a heroic staple of jidaigeki since 1927 - but Yamanaka turns him into a soft-hearted slacker who sponges off the much stronger woman who runs a shooting gallery (the only film role played by Kiyozo, a real-life geisha from Tokyo's Shinbashi district). This subversion of bushido (and the tateyaku type) is typical of the humanist Yamanaka - there is no swordplay in this domestic comedy. In the end, Tange and the shooting gallery mistress adopt a little boy who helped them find the pot, and they become a happy family. (Also read my blog article about Okochi Sanso, the villa of Okochi Denjiro in Kyoto's Arashiyama)
3. Hesokuri Shacho, "The Boss and the Slush Fund", begin of the Company President series by Toho that ran from 1956 to 1970 and in all consists of 33 installments (Morishige Hisaya, 1956)
The Shacho series was Morishige Hisaya's greatest cinematic achievement. Morishige plays a spoiled but lovable company president. Although Morishige and other actors appear again and again in these movies, the settings are different each time. For example, one time it is a food company, another time a real estate company, a department store, etc. Morishige is married and rather afraid of his wife (usually played by Kuji Asami), who torments him with health food. More than his work during the day, he seems to be interested in what happens "after five" when he often has to entertain clients in ryotei (expensive Japanese style restaurants) and bars. He always falls in love with the madams and mama-sans of these establishments, even taking them with him on business trips, but he never manages to be unfaithful to his wife, no matter how hard he tries. At the last moment, before his lips meet hers, there is inevitably a knock at the door and something unforeseen disturbs his amorous plans. (Based on my blog article about Morishige Hisaya)
4. Giants and Toys (Masumura Yasuzo, 1958)
A deliciously wicked satire on the new cutthroat competitiveness of the postwar corporate world and the economic miracle - more vicious than the "Company President" films made around the same time by Morishige Hisaya. Still, there is no lack of humor in the competition between three candy companies (World, Giant, and Apollo) for caramel sales. World decides to make Kyoko, an unknown working-class girl with bad teeth, the star of their new advertising campaign, dressed in a space suit and wielding a ray gun. Meanwhile, the advertising manager's assistant, on orders from his boss, is having an affair with Apollo's ad girl in order to learn about her campaign plans. As Kyoko's popularity rises to unprecedented heights, the young woman is less and less inclined to go along with World's plans for her, working on a career as a singer and dancer, and upsetting the company's carefully laid plans. After a story by Kaiko Takeshi. (Also read my blog article about Masamura Yasuzo)
5. Daigaku no Wakadaisho, begin of Wakadaisho series (Kayama Yuzo, 1961)
The role with which actor and singer Kayama Yuzo became identified was that of Wakadaisho, the "Young Guy" (literally "young captain", the leader of a sports team). Wakadaisho ran from 1961 to 1971. All of the films are in color and CinemaScope, and feature broadly filmed sporting events (it was no coincidence that the series started a few years before Japan hosted the Olympics in 1964). Kayama plays Tanuma Yuichi, the son of a traditional sukiyaki restaurant owner and the leader of a sports club at university - a different sport in each film. He lives with his rather irascible father and a sweet and funny grandma Riki (a great performance by Iida Choko). Tanuma's counterpart at the same university is the "Aodaisho" played by Tanaka Kunie. "Aodaisho" is actually the Japanese Rat Snake, and in the movie is a spoiled rich kid (who looks unattractive and funny) with a yacht and a sports car, who uses his money power to compete with the Wakadaisho for girls. The movies all follow the same pattern. The Wakadaisho meets a nice young woman and they fall in love. The Aodaisho hinders their courtship in one way or another, while the fact that Tanuma is very popular with other women causes the new face to have fits of jealousy. Then Tanuma wins first place in an important sports event, and the young lovers become close again. (From my blog article on Kayama Yuzo)
6. Nippon Musekinin Jidai, "The Age of Irresponsibility in Japan", begin of series with Ueki Hitoshi as irresponsible salaryman (Ueki Hiroshi, 1962)
In the classic comedy The Age of Irresponsibility in Japan Ueki Hitoshi played an idiosyncratic salaryman who captured the spirit of the times. Thanks to the hard work of its people, Japan had returned to prosperity. The 1960s was the time of consumerism, of TVs, cars and "my homes". It was just before the Tokyo Olympics and the nation felt confident about the future. It was even possible to work a little less hard and enjoy life, which is exactly what Ueki's salaryman type does. He is "genki", optimistic and energetic. While his colleagues sit yawning at their desks, he storms into the office, yells "Work, work" and starts working the phones to make a sales appointment with a big voice and a smile - his toothy grin has become his trademark. He almost seems to be the archetype of the ideal employee, but he also has an "irresponsible" side: he doesn't care about small rules and procedures, sets his own time, jumps the hierarchy and uses very unusual methods to be successful. He boldly says what he thinks. Any real-life employee who tried to behave like Ueki would have been fired within seconds. But it was satisfying to see a guy in the movie breaking all the office rules! It gave the real salarymen of Japan the motivation to continue their grinding work. The Age of Irresponsibility was so popular in Japan that more movies featuring Ueki were made at a rapid pace. Another group of Ueki films was created around the title "Nippon Ichi no XX Otoko", "The Best XX Man of Japan", starting with Nippon Ichi no Iro Otoko, "The Sexiest Man of Japan", followed by Nippon Ichi no Gomasuri Otoko, "The Greatest Flatterer of Japan" and Nippon Ichi no Gorigan Otoko, "The Greatest Pusher of Japan". A total of ten of these films were made by 1971. (From my blog article about Ueki Hitoshi)
7. The Graceful Brute, by Kawashima Yuzo (1962)
8. Otoko wa Tsurai yo, "It's Tough Being a Man", beginning of the Tora-san series of 48 feature films (Yamada Yoji & Atsumi Kiyoshi, 1969)
The Tora-san films ran from 1969 to 1995, and actor Atsumi Kiyoshi became synonymous with the character of Tora-san, concentrating on a role that increasingly seemed to be a part of himself. After his death at the age of 68, the series was cancelled, and Tora-san died with Atsumi Kiyoshi. The character of Tora-san was created jointly by Atsumi Kiyoshi and the series' director/scriptwriter, Yamada Yoji. As Tora-san, Atsumi Kiyoshi plays a tekiya, a yakuza type who peddles junk at temple and shrine festivals. He travels around the country with his suitcase full of cheap stuff, dressed in geta, a brown checkered jacket, a hat and a haramaki (a knitted belly band). Although he is rather excitable (more so in the early movies than in the later ones), he also has a big heart. He is yasashii (soft, friendly) and as the Japanese used to say, "wet". He always wants to help others, but because he is a bad listener and too hasty, he often makes the situation worse. Over the course of the long series, Tora-san became nothing less than a national hero.
All the movies follow the same pattern: Tora-san returns home to Shibamata, where he is warmly welcomed, especially by his half-sister Sakura (who acts as his surrogate mother), but inevitably he starts an argument or quarrel. In a huff, he leaves for the Japanese countryside, where he meets a damsel in distress, helps her with whatever problem she has, and falls in love with her. Tora-san in love is so shy that he is a sight to behold - he is unable to explain himself and only stutters. From the "Madonna's" side ("Madonna" was the title used for Tora-san's love interest, played by a different popular actress in each film), there usually seems to be more sisterly affection than love, but Tora is blind to this. This is usually followed by another visit to Shibamata with the girlfriend, so the family can shake their heads at the lovelorn Tora-san. In the end, he usually sets his girlfriend up with another man (a husband she ran away from, a boyfriend she just had a fight with, etc.). This is also partly out of kindness. And after that, he goes back on his travels to heal his broken heart. (Also read my blog article about Atsumi Kiyoshi, including profiles of all Tora-san films)
9. Torakku Yaro: Goiken Muyo, "Truck Guys: Your Opinion is Useless", beginning of the Truck Guys series (Suzuki Norifumi with Sugawara Bunta and Aikawa Kinya, 1975)
Sugawara Bunta and Aikawa Kinya play two truckers who travel around Japan in highly decorated trucks ("dekatora"). Sugawara is unmarried and lives in his truck (after sometimes spending the evening in a "soapland"), while his colleague has a motherly wife with seven or eight children and another one on the way. The plot formula borrows one element from Tora-san: as soon as Sugawara falls in love, he becomes immensely shy. Moreover, like in Otoko wa tsurai yo, his choice is always an unlucky one, as he ends up having to help his beloved in her romance with another man. In the movie's finale, he has to race his truck to meet a deadline to bring the couple together. Although completely unknown abroad, this ten-film series is considered in Japan as "cult director" Suzuki Norifumi's greatest contribution to cinema. (From my blog article: A History of Japanese Film by Year: Decline and Stagnation (1975-1979))
10. Marusa no Onna, "A Taxing Woman," begin series of satirical films made by Itami and his wife Miyamoto (Itami Juzo & Miyamoto Nobuko, 1987)
Itami Juzo (1933-1997), the son of prewar satirical jidaigeki director Itami Mansaku, first worked as an actor before taking the director's chair. He achieved international fame with Tampopo in 1985. His most characteristic style was social satire, lampooning the extravagances of the bubble economy era. His humor stemmed from incongruous situations and the resourcefulness of his heroines in the face of adversity. With A Taxing Woman, Itami hit the jackpot with a light comedy starring his wife, actress Miyamoto Nobuko, as a plucky tax inspector who goes after tax cheats, represented by tax evader king Yamazaki Tsutomu. Part 2 was made in 1988 and features a religious sect led by Mikuni Rentaro as a holy tax evader. Besides the social satire, the films are interesting in that they present a strong, modern type of female lead. This funny first film deservedly won the Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year and the Japan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year. (From my blog article: A History of Japanese Film by Year: Disintegration of the Studio System (1980-1989))
11. Tsuribaka Nisshi, "Fishing Fool's Diary", begin of a series (Nishida Toshiyuki & Mikuni Rentaro, 1988)
Tsuribaka Nisshi is a comedy film by Kuriyama Tomio, based on a fishing manga by Yamasaki Juzo and Kitami Kenichi. It is the first movie in a series that would run to twenty installments by 2007. Most of the early films were released on a double bill with Otoko wa tsurai yo. The movie focuses on the salaryman Hamasaki Densuke ("Hama-chan", played by Nishida Toshiyuki), who is a typical irresponsible salaryman a la Ueki Hitoshi, as his overriding passion is fishing. His unlikely fishing buddy is the CEO of the construction company where he works, Suzuki-san (Mikuni Rentaro), who was bored to death with his job, but regains his vitality thanks to his fishing expeditions with Hama-chan. At first, Hama-chan is completely unaware that the lonely old man he meets after being transferred to the Tokyo headquarters is the boss of his construction company. The two men become friends over their shared passion for fishing. But this is something that has to be hidden from his colleagues at work, especially from his irascible boss Sasaki (played by Tani Kei)! In this first movie, Eri Ishida plays Hamachan's wife. (From my blog article: A History of Japanese Film by Year: Disintegration of the Studio System (1980-1989))
12. Minna Yatteru ka? "Getting Any?" (Kitano Takeshi, 1994)
Getting Any? is a compilation of comedy sketches that begins with a pleasant idiot dreaming of car sex and ends with him where he belongs: (literally) on a big pile of shit. This was not the way to win over moviegoers in Japan - the movie was mostly met with silence and misunderstanding, and at first glance it was not the way to stay popular at international film festivals either. But the movie is actually quite interesting and fits Kitano's biography like a glove. Kitano started out as a Manzai comedian in the 1970s, part of a duo called "Two Beats", with in-your-face jokes that were often cruel and politically incorrect. In the 1980s, Kitano also started his own group of young manzai comedians that he trained. So manzai was very much a part of his life, and in this movie, manzai-style comedy is not only the inspiration, but also the subject - in the sense that even manzai is parodied. The main character is played by Dankan, one of Kitano's manzai students. Note the deadpan face, which is typical. In little sketches that could be part of a Monty Python movie, Dankan goes from having car sex to becoming a movie star, which gives Kitano the opportunity to include spoofs of samurai movies (Zatoichi, which he would later remake), yakuza movies (another genre that would become very dear to his heart), and pink movies, to end with Toho monster movies. To emphasize Kitano's dual personality, the movie is announced as "the fifth film by Kitano Takeshi" and "the first film by Beat Takeshi" (using his Manzai name - this is also his TV name, but this movie has nothing to do with Kitano's TV work). On a cultural level, the movie ironically shows the completely wrong ideas some Japanese young men can have about women. The movie premiered at the London Film Festival. (From my blog article: A History of Japanese Film by Year: The Rise of Indies (1990-1994))